The Problem with Guys
by Silent Melancholia
Summary: When Misty storms into Ash's apartment looking to start a fight, she finds exactly what she was hoping for. Fluffy cuteness, implied AAM.


The Problem with Guys

By SM

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"It's official," the red-haired girl proclaimed with an exasperated sigh as she slammed the door. "I hate men!"

Ash looked up from the television he had sat in front of all night without much surprise to see her back so early. He wasn't worried. It wasn't unusual for her to storm into his apartment without warning. Over the past year she had grown into the habit of doing so whenever she was upset. He was used to it by now, welcome to it even. Misty would come seeking comfort, end up taking all her frustration out on him, and by the end feel much better. It was almost like a ritual between them.

She slumped dejectedly onto the couch beside her best friend and waited for him to say something. He could see that she was anxious to vent. Both her temper and mouth were ready to flare at him at any given opportunity.

Tired of waiting, she decided to prod him along. "That was your cue, stupid."

And apparently tonight would be no exception of the ritual.

He put down the remote. "I take it things didn't go well with Steve?"

"Depends on what you consider 'going well.' I mean if a good date consists of him making a big scene in the restaurant and vowing revenge on me, then by all means it was the best damn date I've ever had."

Ash couldn't help but smile, knowing it would be a bad idea to let her see it if he wanted to keep all his teeth. Putting on a serious face he patted her shoulder sympathetically, struggling for a moment to keep his attention from wandering back to the current pokémon battle playing on the TV screen. "What happened?"

"Well I had worked out what I was going to say the night before, but it didn't go the way I planned at all. Everything was fine until I began to break it off with him. I even tried letting him down gently, but he was furious. Stood up and started yelling at me, I couldn't believe it. And while he was threatening me he even called me a few names I hadn't even heard before!" Misty frowned and tugged off her high heels. "I sure know how to pick 'em, don't I?" 

"Don't beat yourself up over it, Mist."

"Oh, don't worry. By the looks of how upset he was, I'm sure if Steve got the chance he'd do all the beating for me." She sighed again and unfastened the clip that had kept her hair in place, allowing her wild red locks to fall freely around her shoulders. "I don't know what I even saw in him in the first place."

"He seemed like he was a nice guy," Ash offered.

"Yeah, keyword being _seemed_." She groaned, "I really must be blind or something."

"If it makes you feel any better, I never liked him anyway."

"Ash, you never like _any_ of my boyfriends."

"Hey, that's not true! I liked… what was his name again? Wayne, was it? You know, the one who had that nice car, and--"

"And was, as you called him, a snobby, self-centered loser."

He sweatdropped. "Uh… well what about that Brian guy?"

"You thought he was a two-timing jerk."

Ash gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Oh, right."

She gave him a small smile, shaking her head. "I guess it doesn't matter now anyway. I think I've had it for relationships for awhile." She stretched herself out along the couch, ignoring the scowl Ash directed at her when she propped her feet up on him. "Men are such asses."

"Hey, I _am_ a guy, you know."

"Really?" Misty drawled, pretending to look surprised. "And I had no idea all these years? Imagine that! In any case, that's not a problem." She grinned. "No one ever thinks of you as a guy anyway!"

Ash knew he would probably be treading on dangerous grounds, but he wasn't about to let her triumph. He never backed down without a fight. "Oh, that's right. How stupid of me." His grin matched her previous one. "I forgot how compared to you, anyone could be mistaken for a girl!"

She growled at him, a familiar, warning glare coming to her aqua eyes. "And just what do you mean by that?"

"Oh nothing," he sneered, accepting the challenge she had put forth without words. "Only that it's not a secret of how _masculine_ you are."

"I'll let that one slide since I understand why you don't know what a woman is. I guess you'd have to be able to get a date first."

"If all women are like you, I think I'd rather go for Gary!"

"Awww, isn't that cute, Pikachu? Ash is trying to pretend he's straight."

Looking amused as well, the electric rodent jumped into Misty's lap. "Pika!"

"Traitor," Ash muttered.

"Oh don't be a bad sport. Pikachu can't help it if I'm more likeable than you."

He couldn't quite hold back a snort. "You more likeable than me? You're about as likeable as a Gyrados!"

"Gyrados are cute!"

"Well then I take it back. There are many words to describe you, but cute is definitely not one of them."

"I agree. The word 'beautiful' describes me just so much better."

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'beastly' or 'bad-tempered', but of course you always did have bad taste."

Misty looked ready to kill. "If you throw my love life back in my face again, I'll show you just how _beastly_ my _bad temper_ can be. And at least I can find someone who's interested in me!"

"Yeah and we all know how great they were! I especially liked that one who cheated on you with his own stepsister. He was a real keeper."

"You're probably just sore because you wanted him yourself!"

"Even if I was gay I sure wouldn't want to date anyone that would go after you! Hey, I'm surprised they weren't scared off sooner. They'd all have to be out of their right minds to like you!"

The fierceness in her expression simmered into hurt anger. "Well thank you for proving my point about all men being asses, Ash. I should have known you'd never disappoint me in that area!" She stood up with an indignant sniff and walked away towards the door she had just burst through no more than ten minutes ago.

"Misty?"

She turned, hoping he would apologize and tell her to stay. "What?"

"You aren't wearing any shoes."

Fuming, she stalked over to the couch, snatched her heels from the ground, and stalked back in the direction of the door with as much dignity as she could manage.

"…Misty?"

"What now?" She snapped as she whirled around.

Ash paused, his voice gentle. "He didn't deserve you. None of them did."

Misty stopped in her tracks. Whatever she had been expecting him to say had been nothing like that. How was she supposed to stay mad at him now? Damn him for always redeeming himself just as she was vowing to never talk to him again!

Her expression softened as most of her anger faded away. In spite of herself, she gave in and smiled warmly at him. "Thank you."

He smiled back, and stood up. Studying her, he cautiously made his way towards where she was still standing, hoping she wouldn't go with her first thoughts and attack him. "But you really should be more careful when you kick my door open. Know how many times I've had to replace that?"

She pouted sulkily at him. "I don't kick it open, I just don't bother to use the knob. That's all."

He snickered. "Well when you put it that way it just sounds so much better. You know, one of these days we should just get an apartment that all three of us can live in together."

Misty had thought about the idea many times herself. She got too lonely by herself at night, causing her to often make up excuses that allowed her to enjoy his company until she fell asleep on his couch. She hated being alone. "Well we've discussed it before, and I still think it would be a great idea. Unfortunately for Brock I think he would have his hands full trying to keep us from killing each other."

"No problem, it'd be just like old times!"

Another smile escaped her lips before she could stop it. "Yeah, old times."

A moment of silence fell between them. Ash quickly tried to fill it.

"Hey, since your dinner plans kind of fell out, do you want to go grab something to eat?"

Misty considered for a moment. She wasn't going to let him off the hook that easy, but then again she was pretty hungry. "Okay. But I'd rather you don't freak out and threaten to kill me, because I think I've had enough of that for one night."

"Don't worry, I was planning on just going straight to killing you. No use wasting time, as I always say!"

She gave a small giggle. He somehow always managed to put her in better spirits. "Well I guess we should hurry up and get going then!"

Ash offered an arm to her. "Forgive me for being a guy?"

Misty linked one of her own through his. She had already forgiven him by now, but would be damned if she let him know it. "Only if you pay for dinner."

He cringed at the thought of his nearly empty wallet, knowing she would unmercifully enjoy using the rest of his money. "You women," he whined. "Always so tricky."

"But of course. How else would we get what we want?" She smirked, her voice all too smug as she looked up at him from under her lashes. "Besides, what better way to release our anger than to get revenge on the person who caused it? And hey, even if you didn't do anything, you guys are still convenient targets for us to rage at and blame for any other problems we're having!" 

"Glad to be of service," he commented dryly, making her laugh.

"Just be happy you're useful for something!"

"And you call us sexist!" He shook his head and made a face, leading her towards the door. "You know, if I didn't love you so much I'd hate you."

Misty stuck her tongue out. "That's strange, I thought you said anyone would have to be out of their right mind to like me."

The kiss he impulsively planted on her forehead was a tad sloppy, but touching nonetheless. She stared at him in delighted surprise.

Ash grinned. "Well, what can I say? I always have been a little crazy." 

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End One-shot

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Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, just the idea for this fanfic.

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Author's notes: I wasn't planning to release this until I completed more chapters of "And So We Meet Again", but I decided to go ahead with it and treat AAM fans with a cute little scene between the two. If you were wondering, it took place about two years or so before the first memory, since by then the trio was already living together, so that would have made Ash almost 21 and Misty 22 years old. I hope those of you who wanted more romance weren't too disappointed, as it was intended to be more of my take on what their friendship would be like.

I am planning a few more one-shots that take place before, during, and after the ASWMA timeline, such as some fluffy scenes between Misty and Brock, etc. You can expect to see them sometime in the future

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End file.
